About the Journal

Criminology (Uzbekistan) is an international scientific and practical journal founded and published by the Research Institute of Criminology of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Institute provides the journal’s academic and editorial leadership.

The journal publishes original research articles, reviews, theoretical and methodological papers, and short research communications on crime, its causes and consequences, victimisation, crime prevention and criminal justice.

The journal was registered on 23 January 2025 by the Agency for Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (registration number C-5669705; certificate No. 1939579).

Print ISSN: 3060-5369

The journal aims to advance criminological knowledge, support policy and practice informed by scientific evidence, and strengthen national and international research cooperation. It welcomes researchers and practitioners from different countries, with particular attention to Uzbekistan and Central Asia and the significance of this research for international scholarship.

Quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, comparative legal and theoretical research is welcome. Manuscripts must present a clear research question or objective, describe their methods and sources, discuss limitations, and demonstrate a scholarly contribution beyond a descriptive account of legislation or institutional activities.

Subject area

Social Sciences.

Subject categories

The journal’s scope corresponds to the following categories in the All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) used in Scopus:

  • Law — ASJC 3308.
  • Sociology and Political Science — ASJC 3312.

The journal specialises in criminology and criminal justice, including crime prevention, criminal policy and related legal and social research.

Research topics

  • Criminological theories, research methods and crime measurement.
  • Causes, patterns, trends and the hidden dimensions of crime.
  • Social, community-based and situational crime prevention, including mahalla institutions.
  • Victimology, victim protection and access to justice.
  • Juvenile delinquency, child protection and age-related changes in criminal behaviour.
  • Domestic and gender-based violence.
  • Criminal policy, sentencing and the effectiveness of sanctions.
  • Imprisonment, probation, rehabilitation, reintegration and desistance from crime.
  • Policing, public safety, procedural justice and public trust.
  • Corruption, economic and financial crime.
  • Organised and transnational crime, trafficking in persons, and illicit trafficking in drugs and weapons.
  • Cybercrime, digital victimisation and online fraud.
  • Artificial intelligence, crime analysis, risk assessment and algorithmic fairness.
  • Environmental crime, comparative criminology and the evaluation of prevention programmes.

Research in law, forensic science, psychology, sociology and technology falls within the journal’s scope when it makes a clear contribution to understanding crime, victimisation, prevention or criminal justice.

Publication frequency

Criminology (Uzbekistan) is published twice a year. Each issue contains at least six scholarly articles.

Submissions are accepted throughout the year. Research articles are published after initial editorial assessment, independent peer review, any necessary revisions and final acceptance. Submission does not guarantee acceptance or publication within a fixed period.

Publication languages

The journal accepts manuscripts in Uzbek, Russian and English. Every research article must include an English title, abstract and keywords, as well as author names and institutional affiliations in Latin script. Language and formatting requirements are set out in the Author Guidelines.

Open access and copyright

The journal provides immediate open access to published articles without subscription, registration or an embargo period.

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. This permits sharing and adaptation, including commercial use, provided that the authors and source are credited, a link to the licence is supplied and any changes are indicated. Third-party material is covered by the licence only to the extent permitted by the relevant rights holder’s statement.

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication. The applicable licence is identified in each article. Previously published material is not automatically relicensed.

Peer review

Research articles, review articles and short research communications undergo double-anonymous peer review. Authors submit an anonymised manuscript and a separate title page; author and reviewer identities are withheld from one another.

Following initial editorial screening, manuscripts are assessed by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise and no conflict of interest. Assessment covers originality, theoretical or practical contribution, methodological rigour, the adequacy of evidence, compliance with ethical requirements and the extent to which conclusions are supported by the findings.

The Editor-in-Chief or an authorised editor decides whether to accept, request revisions or reject a manuscript, taking account of the reviews and the authors’ responses. Editors with a conflict of interest are excluded from handling the manuscript. Submissions by editorial board members are handled by an independent editor under the same standards.

Editorial material and announcements are identified separately from peer-reviewed research. Appeals and complaints are handled in accordance with the journal’s published procedures.

Founder and publishing responsibilities

Founder, publisher and responsible academic institution:
Research Institute of Criminology of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Institute provides organisational and financial support for the journal. The Institute’s Editorial and Publishing Centre prepares the print-ready layout and prints the journal.

The masthead of issue No. 1–2026 lists the regional office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) as co-founders.

Decisions concerning scholarly assessment, peer review and manuscript acceptance fall within the authority of the Editor-in-Chief and authorised editors. As founder, publisher and funding provider, the Institute safeguards editorial independence. Institutional, commercial and financial interests do not determine the content of reviews or publication decisions.

Publication and research ethics

The journal’s ethical policies are based on the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Authors disclose funding sources, conflicts of interest and individual contributions, and are accountable for the accuracy and integrity of their work.

Research involving people, interviews, surveys, case files or identifiable personal data must report the applicable ethics approval or exemption, consent procedures and confidentiality safeguards. Institutional permission does not replace participants’ voluntary consent where such consent is required.

Additional safeguards apply to children, people in detention, victims and other participants at risk of coercion or harm. Participation must not affect a person’s treatment, sentence or access to services. Identifying information must be protected, including against re-identification through a combination of details.

Research data and artificial intelligence

Empirical articles must include a data availability statement describing access arrangements or justified restrictions. An expectation of open data does not justify the disclosure of personal, confidential or restricted information. Appropriate anonymisation, aggregation or controlled access should be used where possible.

Generative AI cannot be listed as an author. Substantive use of AI in manuscript preparation must be disclosed, and its use as a research method must be documented. Authors verify AI outputs and references. Reviewers and editors do not upload confidential manuscripts to publicly accessible AI services or delegate scholarly assessment to AI. AI use alone does not establish misconduct; an AI-detector score alone is not grounds for rejection.

Author fees

No fees are charged for manuscript submission or peer review.

The standard fee for processing and publishing one accepted article — the Article Processing Charge (APC) — is USD 100.

Until 31 December 2026 inclusive, all costs of preparing and publishing articles are fully covered by the budget of the Research Institute of Criminology of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Authors are exempt from the APC and any other publication charges.

This exemption applies to articles formally accepted for publication no later than 31 December 2026, including articles published after that date. The initial submission date alone does not determine eligibility for the exemption.

For articles formally accepted for publication on or after 1 January 2027, an APC of USD 100 per article applies. Payment is requested only after final acceptance. No APC is charged for rejected manuscripts.

Payment procedures and information on any additional waivers or discounts are published on the Author Fees page. Hidden or previously undisclosed charges are not permitted. Institute funding, APC payments and waivers do not influence peer review or editorial decisions.

Plagiarism and research misconduct

Plagiarism, undisclosed duplicate publication, simultaneous submission to multiple journals, data fabrication or falsification, misleading image manipulation, citation manipulation and misrepresented authorship are prohibited.

Manuscripts are assessed for originality. Where text-matching software is used, reports are interpreted in context; a similarity percentage alone does not establish plagiarism.

Allegations of misconduct are considered objectively, with authors given an opportunity to respond. Depending on the findings, the journal may reject a manuscript or publish a correction, expression of concern or retraction notice. Post-publication notices identify the affected article and explain the action taken; published material is not altered or removed without notice. Detailed procedures are set out in the journal’s relevant policies.

ISSN 3060-5369 (Print)